Window Shopping: High Standard

When I walked into Industry Standard, a skate and streetwear shop/recording studio that opened last week, I was greeted with Lil Wayne blaring out of the speakers, which immediately put me at ease.

I exchanged dap with Westerville native Dominick Petrozzi, president and founder of the store, who was standing by some Dogtown Skateboard decks lecturing a bunch of 14-year-old kids about wasting studio time. The kids had been outside practicing their raps instead of utilizing the time they paid for.

Petrozzi took them into one of the studios and introduced me to engineer Ivan Houpe of Fly.Union, who was loading up a track, before he gave me a tour of the boutique.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of designs on display. There are all-over prints associated with streetwear, but also some more rebellious styles. One that caught my eye was a Fresh Jive T-shirt stating "Revolutionary Suicide," borrowing from the title of Black Panther Huey P. Newton's autobiography. Industry Standard also carries Crooks and Castles, Grn Apple Tree, Diamond Supply, Frankie Finch and some high-end denim for women.
The store's selection of limited and exclusive brands comes from a coupling with Hollywood boutique Brooklyn Projects, started when Petrozzi, who was working on a Tony Hawk tour, met Chris Printup out of Venice, California. When Petrozzi also found support from Nico Can, former CIO of J. Crew, the Industry Standard ball started rolling.
The store jumps on some technological advances in retail as well. Every item is tagged with a SIM card that functions like a GPS to locate it with ease. Computers in the dressing room allow shoppers to explore all their size and color options and take suggestions on how to rock it, if need be, once out of the changing area.

Without planning to, the store has also courted controversy by having graffiti artists who've illegally tagged buildings in the area create a mural on the side of the store. The city called its original form a violation of signage laws; in a compromise, graffiti text was covered with angels and octopi and store owners have agreed to change the mural regularly.
Asked about it, Printup said, "I grew up on all of this—skateboarding, hip-hop, graffiti—so this is just the culture I come from."
Smirking, Petrozzi added, "Any press is good press. And we have a new design playing on the fact that the government hires criminals. You'll see in October."